Eggers takes helm at HR schools

Hood River News

Friday, January 3, 2003

A major step toward selection of a new superintendent will be the chief item of business in the Hood River County School Board’s first meeting of 2003.

The meeting will be the first with interim superintendent Rick Eggers, who was appointed last month following the resignation of former superintendent Jerry Sessions. The meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Pine Grove Elementary.

The board is scheduled to appoint the 20-member superintendent advisory committee, which will have the job of initial screening of candidates for superintendent. The district has received self-nominations from 11 people for the six citizen positions on the committee. The other positions will go to staff members and administrators.

The panel, under constraint of confidentiality, will review the superintendent candidates in early February and recommend a field of finalists for the school board to interview in March. The position has been advertised and the closing date to apply is Jan. 27.

Eggers will serve as lead administrator through June 30, when the new superintendent is scheduled to start work.

“I’m excited about this. It’s a professional challenge,” said Eggers, who is in his fourth year as assistant superintendent of Hood River schools.

Eggers will not be replaced as assistant during his six-month stint, but the board did approve a part-time hiring to assist Eggers and assistant superintendent Marcia LaDuke. Susan Henness, an administrator with Regional Educational School District, will work two days a week for Hood River County School District.

Henness will take some of LaDuke’s responsibilities in curriculum, and LaDuke will take some of Eggers’ personnel duties. With contract negotiations on the horizon, Eggers said it was important for familiar faces to handle personnel issues rather than shifting those duties to someone new.

Eggers said he and LaDuke and Henness are in the process of discussing the exact division of duties, and he plans to make a presentation to the board later in the month.

For his part as interim superintendent, he said, “You have to be visible, you have to provide appropriate counsel to the board, and provide a format to accomplish things.”

Eggers said he has met individually with all the district’s administrators and “everyone has been very supportive” of his appointment.

Latest video:

Parkdale third graders sing "12 Disaster Days of Christmas"

Welcome to your sing-able Christmas gift list.
What follows is an emergency rendition of “12 Days of Christmas” – for outfitting your home or car in case of snow storm, earthquake, flood or other emergency.
Read it as a simple list, or sing it to the tune of “12 Days” – you know, as in “ … and a partridge in a pear tree…”
Not to make light of it, but the song is a familiar framework for a set of gift ideas that you could consider gathering together, even if the recipient already owns items such as a bunch of coats, tire chains and flashlights. Stores throughout the Gorge are stocked up on all these items. Buying all 12 days might be prohibitive, but here are three ideas for checking any of the dozen off your list (notations follow, 1-12.) The gift items needed to stay warm, dry and safe are also coded to suggest items in your abode (A) in your car (C) or both (B).
12 Gallons of Water (A)
11 Family meals (B)
10 Cans of propane (A)
9 Hygiene bags (B)
8 Packs of batteries (A)
7 Spare coats (B)
6 Bright red flares (C)
5 Cozy blankets (B)
4 Tire chains (C)
3 Flashlights (B)
2 cell phone chargers (B)
1 And a crush-proof first aid kit (B)
Price ranges? Here’s a few quotes for days Three, Two, Four and Nine:
n A family gift of flashlights (three will run $15-30, Hood River Supply, Tum-A-Lum)
n Cell phone chargers (two will run $30-60)
n Tire chains (basic set, $30, Les Schwab, returnable if unused for the winter)
n Family meals ($100 or so should cover the basics for three or four reasonably well-fed days)
n
The home kit should be kept in a handy place near an exit, and remember that water needs to be replenished every few months.
If you have a solid first aid kit already, switch out the gift idea with “and-a-sto-o-u-t- tub-for it-all …”
Otherwise, it’s a case of assembling your home or car kits and making sure all members of the family know what the resources are and how to use them (ie flares and propane).
Emergency situations are at worst life-threatening, at best deeply uncomfortable if you and your family are left without power for an extended period, or traveling and find yourself in a situation where you need to wait out a storm, lengthy traffic delay, or other crisis.
Notes on the 12 gift ideas:
12 – Gallons of water: that’s one per person in a four-member family to last for three days, the recommended minimum to be prepared for utility outages.
11 – Easy-open packaged goods, energy bars, dried food and nuts are good things to include for nutrition. Think of what your family of four needs for three days to stay fortified and hydrated (see number 12). Can-opener also recommended
10 – If you have a propane camping stove, keep extra fuel handy.
9 – Hygiene bags: put packaged moistened towelettes, toilet paper, and plastic ties in large garbage bags (for personal sanitation)
Resource list courtesy of Hood River County Emergency Management, Barbara Ayers, manager/ 541-386-1213.
The county also reminds residents to Get a Kit, Make A Plan to connect your family if separated, and Stay Informed. See www.co.hood-river.or.us to opt-in for citizen alerts. Enlarge